It has been almost 20 years since Toni Collette earned her first Oscar nomination for “The Sixth Sense” (1999). Since then she has appeared in Oscar nominees like “About a Boy” (2002), “The Hours” (2002) and “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006), but she herself has not returned to the academy’s lineup. Well, she’s on the verge of another awards windfall, and it’s thanks to another horror film, “Hereditary.”
“The Sixth Sense” earned Collette a Best Supporting Actress nom for playing Lynn Sear, the mother of a troubled boy who sees dead people. That bid came as a surprise; even though “The Sixth Sense” was a major contender throughout the awards season, Collette hadn’t been nominated by the BAFTAs, SAG Awards, Golden Globes or any critics awards before the academy came calling.
She hasn’t gotten any more love from the Oscars since then, though she did make a pit stop on TV for a few seasons on “United States of Tara,” which won her an Emmy in 2009 and a Golden Globe in 2010. But now she might be back on the Oscar radar thanks to “Hereditary,” in which she plays Annie, a wife and mother of a family in mourning that is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.
The horror genre isn’t usually Oscar bait, but “The Sixth Sense” proved that there are exceptions to the rule (see also: “The Exorcist,” “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Get Out”). Also, “Hereditary” earned some of the year’s best reviews when it was released this past June. And it’s from A24, a distributor that has become a consistent Oscar player in recent years thanks to films like “Room” (2015) and “Moonlight” (2016).
On November 16 “Hereditary” had a good showing in the Independent Spirit Award nominations, earning a pair of bids for Best Actress for Collette and Best First Feature. Then on November 26 Collette upset Glenn Close (“The Wife”) by winning Best Actress at the Gotham Awards for independent film. That Gothams race was decided by a jury of just a handful of industry insiders, but it could put her on the radar for other awards voters as the season continues.
We’ve polled Expert journalists from top media outlets for their Oscar picks, and as of now three of them are betting on a nom for Collette: Alicia Malone (TCM and Filmstruck), Michael Musto (NewNowNext) and Brian Truitt (USA Today). Malone last updated her picks on November 20, after the Spirit nominations, while Musto and Truitt updated their picks after the Gothams. Will more Experts and users jump on the bandwagon? It’s scary how fast the Oscar race can change.
Be sure to check out how our experts rank this year’s Oscar contenders. Then take a look at the most up-to-date combined odds before you make your own Oscar predictions. Don’t be afraid to jump in now since you can keep changing your predictions until just before nominations are announced on January 22.
